MountainStar Sports Group, which has promised to bring a Triple-A baseball team to El Paso, told city officials on Saturday that the construction of the Downtown ballpark will cost up to $10 million more.

In an email to Mayor Oscar Leeser, Joshua Hunt, a member of the MountainStar Sports Group, said that the $64 million currently budgeted for the ballpark "likely will not be sufficient to complete construction."

"As a result, the City and MountainStar began discussing additional ways to cover these additional costs, which could be as much as $10 million," Hunt wrote.

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Alex Hinojosa

Hunt added that MountainStar would provide additional funds for the construction costs and reimburse the city for costs that are more than the agreed $64 million. MountainStar does not say how much money it would contribute.

Leeser said he is against additional costs to the city.

"I am willing to consider a proposal whereby MountainStar will fund anything in excess of the 'not to exceed the $64 million' contractually committed to by the city....I have asked that MountainStar provide a clear commitment to cover the additional expenditures, and I believe your proposal adds additional modifications that I cannot support," Leeser said in an email to MountainStar.

MountainStar said it wants to have more control of the ballpark's schedule, project plans and the budget. It also is asking the city to integrate the ballpark into the neighborhood and have the city "facilitate circulation in and around the ballpark" and provide money to the ballpark not associated with its construction. It also wants the city to modify ticket packages and that Missouri Street be closed during events.

City Rep. Eddie Holguin called MountainStar's request "ridiculous."

"I can't believe that they would ask for more money knowing that they had promised us that it would initially cost $50 million -- and it was a lie," Holguin said. "It went up to $64 million and they said it would not exceed that -- and yet here they are a month or two later asking us for another $10 million. I think we all knew from the beginning that it was never going to cost $50 million because all of their estimates have been wrong."

City Rep. Cortney Niland said that she agrees with Leeser that the city should not spend more than $64 million and that the city should not amend its agreement with MountainStar.

"Enough is enough. We are not renegotiating our terms. If they are asking to spend up to $10 million on the project and cover the costs, it's fine. But not under the condition of renegotiating our terms," she said.

Leeser and city officials will have a meeting Monday afternoon to discuss MountainStar's proposal.

Neither Hunt nor Leeser could be reached for comment Saturday.

In an email to the El Paso Times, city spokeswoman Juli Lozano said that Leeser and other city officials would not make further comments on the matter until Monday.

In June, city officials approved $12.1 million in increased costs to the design and construction of the ballpark.

The city approved the sale of more than $60 million in bonds to cover the costs of design and construction of the ballpark, the demolition of City Hall and the Insights El Paso Science Center, public art at the ballpark as required by city ordinance and the cost of selling the bonds.

The lease to MountainStar also was extended.

Under the original contract, MountainStar would have contributed $17.3 million in rent, parking and ticket surcharge revenues to the cost of the ballpark over 25 years. With the revisions, that comes to about $29.4 million over 30 years.